Best Way To Get Rid of a Charlie Horse?

My neighbor is an Athletic Trainer and she made me drink 8 oz of pickle juice once. It worked but I don't think I would do it again. :sick:

eat a banana

Massage the muscle. Drinking a tbsp of vinegar will help too.

Go buy yourself a foam roller. It will help with any stiff/sore muscles in the future. I use it after I run and stretch. It's like getting a massage to push out all the lactic acid.

Charlie horses can also be a symptom of a calcium deficiency.

Most likely it is due to either dehydration or lack of potassium (which is why people keep saying to eat a banana). Drink plenty of water or gatorade and eat plenty of fresh fruits to obtain the potassium.

I get these regularly. I'll either have 1 G2 after my workout or a glass of 1/2 pedialyte 1/2 water. I tried doing the banana thing, the milk thing, the LOADS of water thing...I needed to replenish my electrolytes. Haven't had any cramping problems since.

Lorina is right:

My boss's wife said to flex your ankle so your toe points up. My coworker said to flex your ankle so your toe points down. I said hop around on one leg while swearing like a drunken sailor. They laughed at me, but then that study came out that says that cussing relieves pain, so I had the last laugh.

---on the first suggestion. I discovered this years ago and it always works and the result is instant.

Do keep your potassium in line first though.

I get those, too. I actually had one yesterday while I was working out with my trainer. She told me it was probably due to overuse, and to take a rest day (which is hard for me, haha!) I've also noticed that my salt has been low the last few days, and since I've been running/sweating a lot, my electrolytes get low. I like PowerAde Zero, and try to drink one of those when that happens. Also, if you're going to be doing extensive workout/sweating, you may want to look into dissolvable electolyte tablets.

if you have one, rub it out.


and yes. please quote me on that.

The charlie horses I've had have been sudden and debilitating. The pain is O.M.G. I asked a woman once what giving birth felt like (I was young and stupid), and she said it was like an intense charlie horse. I was silent for a beat, then said, "OMG! That HURTS!" Yea....

I used to get these from time to time, usually when I am in bed sleeping after a hard day. There is a split-second moment when you can feel it coming on and if you stretch out the muscle quickly you can avoid the cramp. For me, that is pointing my toes back towards me (to stretch the calf muscle). I haven't gotten a leg cramp in years by doing this, however, I do get up and take an Advil right away once this occurs. Now I remember to take Advil anytime I notice that I overdid it on my calf muscles. It seems to work to prevent cramping.

If you are too late and experience the cramping, then do what everyone else suggests with the bananas, water, rollers, massage, etc.

tonic water has some quinine in it. quinine is prescribed for muscle cramps. if you drink a little for a while, especially an hour or so before bed, you'll be cramp-free.

adding gin is up to you

I got these bad with both pregnancies (it's a pretty common pregnancy annoyance) - they would wake me up in the middle of the night. Best bet for preventing them is checking your diet - make sure you're getting enough calcium and potassium (started eating a lot more bananas LOL). For me it also helped to move more during the day, but obviously that's not the problem if you're working out regularly. ;-) Whenever I DID get one, the quickest and most effective way to get rid of it was to stretch my leg out straight and point my toes up toward my body and heel out, and massage the muscle at the same time. Stretches the muscle out and calms the cramp fairly quickly.